Butterfly Girl

by Greenleigh Adams

  “Maybe she’d be more comfortable if she had more time in a group setting versus one on one with you.” When did Louis get all girly?

  “Louis is right. Maybe the four of us could do something together?”

  I would let Charlie think she initiated that suggestion so I didn’t have to admit that I’d already mentioned that scenario to Lex.

  “Good idea. How about roller skating?” The cringing shudder I received from them both was the reaction I expected. I was fully aware that would strike a nerve with them. I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t razz the people I cared about a little?

  “Man. That was low. You were there when I broke my arm the last time I went roller skating.” Louis shook his head and rubbed his right arm up and down in response to the memory. It’d happened years ago, but you would’ve thought by his reaction that it had happened last week.

  I laughed under my breath at the satisfaction I had earned.

  “Poor Louis.” Charlie stood up and took over rubbing his arm. Ick! “It was the day before our last day of school, and we went on that class field trip to the skating rink.”

  The three of us were silent briefly as we recalled the events leading up to his orthopedic injury.

  I wasn’t going to let my sister beat me around the rink again. It was bad enough I got shown up by my best friend, but I certainly wasn’t going to let Charlie win the race around the loop.

  I pushed other children out of the way so I could catch up to her. She, of course, heard me approach, so she did her best to propel herself forward as fast as she could. I was about to close in on her, though…until Louis decided to pull himself out of the race and help Lean Bean beat me! At first, he pulled her behind him. Then he used his own momentum to push her forward. She whizzed past me, and I struggled to maintain my lead. I began falling behind.

  Louis began to roll his way across the diameter of the rink to help her gain momentum again instead of sticking to the outside perimeter. No way, buddy! I’m winning this race. As he approached us, I shoved him with all my force. His forward momentum being struck by an opposing force, not only caused him whiplash, but it also caused him to lose his balance. He used his outstretched hand to brace his fall, and then we all heard it. The thunderous clap of the wrist bones being cracked.

  At first, I continued skating; I thought he fell but was okay. I only meant to stop him from helping Lean Bean win the race. I didn’t mean to hurt my friend. Being the kinder heart of our twinship, Charlie went to Louis first. He began to cry. Geez. I made my best friend cry.

  I skated over and helped him to his feet. The scowl that my twin threw at me nearly knocked me off my feet as well. She was furious. I’d never seen her this angry with me. I felt awful for what had happened, and I hoped they would forgive me. I never wanted to compete with these two again. I cared more about them than anyone else in the world…well, except maybe my mom and my dad.

  “I swore that day that I would never compete with you two over anything ever again.” We couldn’t help ourselves. The three of us erupted into unrelenting laughter.

  We tried to catch our breaths and stifle our snorting cackling, but it was extremely difficult. Even thinking there was a time when we wouldn’t have competed against each other was complete absurdity.

  “Well, that was probably fifteen years ago,” Louis said, trying to regain his composure.

  “Yes. It was second grade.” Charlie reclaimed her seat next to me. This time, Louis wedged himself onto the couch as well so that we were both on either side of my sister. “Then, on the last day of school, you wouldn’t even let me sit next to you on the school bus home. Louis got to stay home that day, and you chose to sit next to that girl instead of me.” She poked her index finger into my chest. “What was that name you called her?”

  “Butterfly.”

  “Holy crap. I forgot about her. She used to cry every day on the bus. Cam was her knight in shining armor.” Louis clutched his right hand over his heart and then draped his left hand across his forehead in a dramatic swooning effect.

  Sniggering bubbled beneath Charlie’s breath again. “Dark Knight, maybe. She used to call him Batman, remember?”

  Louis and Charlie chuckled at the memory. I was not amused. I did not find that memory humorous at all. That was the last day I saw the Butterfly girl.

  “Why can’t I sit next to you today? After all, you’re the reason Louis isn’t here to ride home with me.” Charlie stomped her foot in the aisle of our school bus.

  “Because I always ride home next to Butterfly. I’m saving the seat next to me for her.” I loved my sister, but I rode with her this morning. I had to be available for Butterfly after school. Not to mention, I’d be with Charlie all summer. Today would be the last day I’d see Butterfly until school started again in September.

  “Sometimes I hate you.” She stuck out her tongue and then relented to the seat across from me, next to Tommy-still-sucks-his-thumb.

  I snarfed a laugh and briefly put my thumb in my mouth, assuring her that I was aware what she had to deal with sitting next to Tommy. She rolled her eyes at my gesture.

  Butterfly waved to me while walking up the steps into the bus. She had a smile on her face when she saw me, but it quickly faded as she came closer. I slid in toward the window to allow her room to sit next to me. I pulled out my lunch box like I had done every day for the entire year, grabbed the mini Kit Kat bar, and handed it to her. My mom had agreed to keep Kit Kats in the house if I kept my grades up.

  Needless to say, I’d received straight As on every report card I had brought home this year. So I always had a Kit Kat in my lunch. Charlie got Little Debbie snacks, and Claudette preferred Doritos. We were all good students, so I assumed Mom continued to indulge us with the junk food incentives in the hopes we would continue to do well in school.

  Butterfly reached for the Kit Kat, and although her lips were turned upward in a smile, she had tears streaming down her face. I had hoped all year for just one day where she wouldn’t cry. “I’m going to miss you this summer, Batman.”

  “Nah, you’re just going to miss the chocolate.”

  She giggled and wiped the tears from her face with her fingers.

  “We’ll see each other again soon, though.”

  “What if we don’t ride the same bus next year?” Her look of concern made me sad.

  “Then I’ll find you. I’ll keep looking for you until I find you.” And then I hugged her because that always helped my sisters feel better when they were sad.

  But she didn’t like my hug. She pushed me away. “How would you be able to find me? You are just a little kid like me.”

  I was still shocked at the way she shoved me off her, but I managed to confidently say, “Because I’m Batman.”

  “I wonder whatever happened to her,” Charlie said, snapping me out of the pull from my distant memory.

  “Maybe she moved away,” Louis offered. They both shrugged.

  “So how about a pizza night soon?” I suggested in an attempt to change the subject. They both looked at me with questioning eyes. “So I could invite Lex over. She likes delivery from Pizza Garden. Maybe we could watch a movie?”

  “I’ve never seen you so obsessed over a girl before.” A teasing smile tugged at the corners of Charlie’s mouth.

  I would just have to break down and tell her. I told her everything, so this wouldn’t be any different. “You were right, Lean Bean. I’m fascinated by her. I like being around her. I admire and respect her, and I get so excited when I get to see her.” I ignored Louis, who made a gagging noise next to Charlie while sticking his finger into his open mouth.

  “Wow. I’m not sure whether to be impressed that you used so many adjectives to describe a girl, or that your description spells out FLARE.” She must have seen the look of confusion I felt across my face because she began to provide an explanation. “Fascinated, like, admire, respect, and excited…they create the acronym, FLARE.”

  I
wasn’t sure whether to be shocked that she paid that much attention to what I had said, or that she could think of acronyms that quickly.

  “You mean, FLARE, like that emergency firestick that we lay on the shoulder of the road at a traffic accident scene?” I could count on Louis, who was also a paramedic, to take the conversation in another direction. I appreciated that from him.

  “Yes! That’s it!” My sister’s eyes widened and brightened as if she just had a lightbulb moment. “Alexis is your emergency firestick. She gets you all hot and bothered.”

  Louis bounced a look back and forth between Charlie and me, waiting for one of us to speak. But we were very good at the quiet game. Neither one of us would be the first to say anything. We could be incredibly stubborn. Several moments ticked by without any words exchanged between the three of us as we sat on the couch. We sat staring at each other in silence and awkwardness for probably fifteen or twenty minutes.

  “So when should we have pizza?” Louis sucked at this game. While he was away for five years, Charlie and I had perfected this game. One of us would always cave. Because, like I’d mentioned before, we were best friends. Pretty soon, we would have to speak to each other. I would need to talk with her, or she would need to talk to me. I knew it was childish, but the first to speak had to take the other out for a Diet Coke.

  “I’m thinking maybe Friday night?” Poor Louis. He was trying to get us to engage, but neither of us would budge. So I guess he did what he thought he needed to do. He crashed on top of both of us on the couch and began tickling us.

  I never realized how strong he was before now. He had both Charlie and me pinned to the cushions while he tickled us senselessly. “Say stop at the same time on my count, and I will.” He continued to poke at us. We were both laughing uncontrollably. “One…two…three.”

  “Stop!” we said in unison. He rolled off us and allowed us to peel ourselves out of the sinkhole of pillows.

  Charlie slapped his shoulder. It was a move she’d often made when we were kids. “That wasn’t nice, Louis.” He loudly kissed her pouting lips. Gross!

  “Okay, so that was a little nice.” She leaned toward him and started kissing him. I swear I saw her shove her tongue into his mouth before I had to look away.

  “Jesus, you two!” I called, facing my back to them. “So pizza at my place on Friday night at seven.” I hurriedly walked to the door without looking back in their direction. “Don’t worry, I’ll let myself out.”

  I continued out the door and kept walking toward the parking lot. When I reached my truck, I took my phone out and began to send a text once I was seated in the cab.

  Cameron: Louis and Charlie are coming over to my place on Friday at 7pm for pizza and a movie. Please don’t make me be alone with them! Say you’ll come too.

  Alexis: I’ll think about it.

  Cameron: You don’t understand! They started making out right in front of me just a minute ago. [puking face]

  Alexis: LOL [laughing smiley face]

  Cameron: So please! Pretty please say you’ll come over.

  Alexis: Okay. Send me your address.

  I watched the bubbles dance across my screen as she typed more.

  Alexis: And maybe I’ll talk with Charlie about the PDA [laughing smiley face]

  Cameron: [smiley face] [smiley face] [smiley face]

  Alexis: Maybe we can watch the Michael Keaton Batman? Since it’s your favorite.

  Cameron: [smiley face] [smiley face] [smiley face]

  Now that I was back at the high school for work, weekends were the best for me to spend time with my friends. Lex and Charlie both worked on Tuesday night, so luckily, I didn’t have to go six days without getting to see Lex again. I brought them coffee that night. As always, I also brought some for the other two ER nurses—Tiffany and Cecilia. I tried to be my friendly self, but I had zero desire to spend the few minutes I had flirting with the two of them. I spent every bit of my ten minutes with Lex. I said hi to my sister and the others. I wasn’t rude by any means, but I was pretty sure I made it clear that I wasn’t interested in anyone but Lex.

  My nonchalant attitude toward Tiffany and Cecilia definitely hadn’t gone unnoticed. Charlie had texted me Wednesday afternoon to tell me they were both heartbroken because it was obvious I had decided which ER nurse was my favorite.

  My sister also teased me that she was disappointed that she wasn’t my favorite. During our texting conversation, she also agreed to keep the PDA to a minimum. Maybe Lex had said something to her? Regardless, I hoped she held true to that. Don’t get me wrong. I was super happy my two best friends were in a relationship together. It was probably always destined to be that way. Maybe they’d get married someday, and Louis would really become my brother like I’d wanted so desperately when we were kids. I wasn’t like other brotherless boys. I didn’t just want a brother. I specifically wanted Louis to be my brother.

  Regardless that I completely supported their relationship, I was still getting used to the idea that they were intimate. I was aware they had sex. Charlie had told me all about their first time. She needed to talk to her best friend, so I stayed as objective as I could. But deep down, my stomach was tied in knots that the two of them had done that. Even with her telling me about that, it wasn’t as bad as seeing them lust over each other with my own eyes. It made me extremely uncomfortable. But being friends with them for as long as I had, if I’d let on that the PDA bothered me, they would go into overdrive with the kissing and snuggling just to get under my skin. We liked to tease each other at every opportunity we got.

  On Friday, Lex arrived at my apartment at seven o’clock on the dot. The food was delivered five minutes later, and at almost a quarter past, my besties finally showed up. I didn’t want to imagine what they might’ve been doing that made them late. Louis had never arrived late to pizza night at the Callahan household when we were kids. It was every Friday, and much like tonight, we would eat while watching a movie. Of course, we lived with our parents back then, so it was in the basement of my childhood home instead of my own apartment. But compared to this day, Fridays, pepperoni, cheese, and movies…they still held similarities.

  Charlie threw a package on my counter once she and Louis entered my kitchen. The red plastic covering told me what was in it, so I made up my mind to forgive her tardiness rather quickly.

  “What’d you bring?” Lex asked.

  “It’s dessert.” She held up the bag for Alexis to see. “Kit Kats, to be exact. Cam very rarely eats them, but they’re his favorite.”

  “That’s funny because they’re my favorite candy bars, too.” She glanced at the unopened plastic bag. “Some girls eat ice cream, but I always found refuge in the empty calories of a Kit Kat bar when depressed or faced with a dilemma.”

  “They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but I’d argue that chocolate is.” Both girls laughed in agreement and moved toward the stacked pizza cartons sitting on my kitchen table.

  “I figured we’d eat in front of the TV so we can start the movie,” I suggested as I grabbed a stack of plates from my cabinet.

  “What are we watching anyway?” Louis tried to act interested, but I already knew he cared more about the free food and making out with my sister in the dark than what would actually be playing on my television.

  “Batman,” I said plainly. When I looked at Lex, I could see her lips curve into the faintest grin. Lex and I sat on the couch next to each other with food in hand.

  “Ugh,” my sister whined. “Michael Keaton?” Charlie dropped a cheesy slice onto a plate and walked toward the adjacent love seat. “Alexis, he made me and Louis watch that movie at least a dozen times the summer he bought the DVD.”

  “Well, it’s my place, and it’s my favorite.” I stuck out my tongue at her like we used to when we were kids.

  “Real mature, Cam. I get that the Dark Knight series isn’t your favorite, but can’t we still change it up? What’s wrong with Val Kilmer or George Clooney?”
<
br />   Louis plopped down next to Charlie on the love seat. “So, I’m thinking about getting a tattoo.” That was a random comment from my best friend. He always had an idea how to distract my sister when he felt a disagreement developing between the two of us.

  “We could get matching ones,” she responded with a sarcastic grin. I could tell she was kidding.

  “What would you get, Lean Bean?” I was totally going to feed into her comment, because I was fully aware that she was terrified of needles. It was ironic, considering she was a nurse. She claimed giving needles didn’t bother her but receiving them did.

  “I’m not sure.” She rubbed her finger across her chin as if she was contemplating. “How about you, Alexis? If you were to get a tattoo, what would you get?” Deflection. Nice tactic, Lean Bean. But completely unoriginal.

  “I already have one,” Lex stated plainly between bites. Even though she responded nonchalantly, she found herself with three sets of eyes on her anyway. Having a tattoo seemed entirely unlike her, but then again, as she had pointed out, how much did I really know about her anyway?

  “What is it?” Charlie’s voice was laced with curiosity.

  “Where is it?” Louis asked because, of course, location was his primary interest.

  “It’s a butterfly.” Her gaze didn’t waver from her cheesy, vegetable-laden slice of pizza. “On my bikini line.”

  Thank goodness she didn’t see my reaction. I swallowed hard. Because I pictured a tattoo on her bikini line…a tattoo of a butterfly.

  An overwhelming sense of shock flew through me. Wave after wave of astonishment came over me, causing my stomach to churn. My breath caught in my throat, and I could feel my pulse quicken. I had swallow hard to push the choking sensation back down. My heart quivered and twisted within my chest as the reality of the situation slammed into me. And that damn knot in my gut was begging to be released.